24 December 2009

boulangerie

Town was crowded. At the Boulangerie, a line had formed and snaked out into the street. The weather is warm, oddly so, after such Cold of the proceeding weeks. It took 5 minutes to get through the door where the line of wearied shoppers continued up to the caisse. At the head of the line, an older woman with a cane was being waited on by Anne, the owner. This is the time of year when everyone has ordered their special treats, most notably the famous Bûches de Noel, essentially, a long tube of sweetened butter. Dieters beware!(attention: ce qui soit au regime!)

In front of me was Claude Martin whose brother runs the movie theatre, and, like brother Pierre, he was born with an impish sense of humor. "Alors Nini... tu nous embête! Dépêche-toi!" to which she turned around each time raising her cane with a menacing air of mock anger. This went on for 10 minutes. I am always amazed at the sudden intimacy between people under such normally austere situations. "Nini!...Qu'est-ce-que tu nous fais la!!!"...... the exquisitely brief nicknames bandied about in a small town.

I picked up 5 large loaves to take to Grenoble this afternoon for dinner with Reidunn and her family. She is preparing a dîner pour douze personnes. A Norwegian Christmas Eve in Grenoble pour les fêtes, en fait.

Thisnight, I dreamt that I was working two jobs, cleaning the pots and pans in two different restaurant kitchens! la Plongeur, quoi!